


Future boyfriend

by Thunderfire69



Series: Post-Endgame [6]
Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Black Panther - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, BAMF Dora Milaje, Bucky Barnes is a little shit, Curses, Getting Together, Irondad, M/M, Meme Lord Peter Parker, Meme Lord Shuri (Marvel), Mutants, Nick Fury Knows All, Okoye is so done with Tony and T’Challa’s dumb gay pining, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Shuri Friendship, Pining, Plot, Shuri & T’Challa - Freeform, Shuri is a Little Shit, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, Tony is a little shit, Tony is even MORE oblivious, T’Challa does what he wants, T’Challa is really oblivious, i cannot stress how oblivious he is, injuries, oblivious idiots, plot heavy, sibling dynamics, spiderson, stab wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderfire69/pseuds/Thunderfire69
Summary: “You hung back.” It wasn’t a question; Tony was stating a fact, and the King turned to him, looking a little surprised.“I’m sorry?”“During the fight. You hung back. Why?”“I no longer have the strength of the panther,” T’Challa said slowly, as if it pained him to say it aloud.“What, so someone else is the Black Panther now?”-OR-T’Challa loses his Black Panther powers. Tony tries to help him get them back.





	Future boyfriend

“You seem to be enjoying yourself in my lab, Stark.”

 

Tony jumped at the voice of a young teen; he looked up to spot the King’s sister, Shuri, Peter trailing behind her, and he gave the two an easy smile. “It’s incredible. I’ve never gotten to work with this much- well, actually _any_ vibranium before.”

 

“For a beginner you seem to be managing well,” Shuri said, looking surprised at the half-finished high-tech vibranium arm Tony was working on. The genius’ grin widened.

 

“He’s the smartest person I know,” Peter said matter-of-factly and Shuri glanced at him for a second, then back to Tony.

 

“Oh really?” she said, one eyebrow arching in a silent challenge. Tony waved her off.

 

“Let me finish this new arm in peace,” he said, still smiling at the teens. “This old one’s getting…” Tony lifted his right arm, which was made entirely of a metal alloy similar to his suits. “Well, old.”

 

Shuri snorted at his choice of words. “Okay, okay. We’ll get out of your hair. But I can bet the White Wolf will be wanting a similar arm.”

 

Now it was Tony’s turn to snort. “He’s got you making his high-tech arms; what the hell does he need me for?”

 

“Uh, everything?” Peter chimed in. “You’re a genius.”

 

“So’s she, kid,” Tony said, gesturing to Shuri with his robotic arm. Since he’d snapped the gauntlet to stop Thanos’ army, he’d had a metal arm. The snap had caused the doctor’s to have to amputate his arm, and scarring on the side of his face was irreversible. He’d tried to get it fixed, surgeon after surgeon trying, and though it had been lessened, it was still there, a ghastly reminder of what he’d done and sacrificed for the world.

 

Shuri shot Peter a pointed look after Tony spoke. “We’ll leave you be.”

 

“Bye, Mr Stark!” Peter called as he and Shuri left; Tony got a glimpse of the wakandian playfully shoving the spider-kid out through the door. He let out a small sigh; he was glad they’d hit it off so well and become such fast friends. Tony found he’d been warming up to Shuri’s brother, the King, during their stay in Wakanda.

 

He and Peter were there as part of a program/idea Nick Fury had to keep Wakanda as allies. Tony was sure this was to do with their resources, and not so much the fate of the actual universe. Nick Fury had wanted to send Sam with them, but Tony knew he was the best hope of keeping New York well-guarded, since he was the new Captain America (Falcon America? Captain Falcon?).

 

So instead Bucky had been sent with them; probably a good choice, since the former HYDRA agent was so familiar with Wakanda. Tony had heard he’d been spending most of the time tending to the goat herd he’d been forced to leave behind during the Wakandan battle against Thanos.

 

Nick Fury had briefed them on what they’d be doing here; just a stay, admiring the place, kind of like a holiday. To keep the peace, he’d said. They’d spent a week running through Wakandan customs, on how to act around the King and on the traditions. By the time he was getting on a plane to Wakanda, Tony felt confident enough that he wouldn’t trip over his own feet trying not to offend anyone.

 

He was prepared to be shown their tech, to maybe have to participate in some of their rituals (and by “participate” he meant stand silently and watch unless he was spoken to or actually asked to join in) and maybe, just maybe get to experiment with a little of the Vibranium.

 

He didn’t expect such a warm welcome upon his arrival, nor did he expect anyone to know who he was. Word of him snapping Thanos’ army out of existence must have spread. He _really_ didn’t expect the King to be waiting for his arrival, nor did he expect said King to be really, really attractive.

 

It was only a few days into his stay that he was introduced to Shuri, and Peter instantly made friends with the other teen (through quoting vines, apparently) and soon enough Tony was allowed into her lab to observe how the tech in Wakanda was used. A week after this, he was granted access to use the tech, and to experiment with Vibranium.

 

He’d been making the most of this, knowing his stay was only going to last a month, and that he was already nearly halfway through his stay. He was pretty sure Peter had received a Kimoyo bead bracelet from Shuri, so they could keep in contact after he left. Tony was just happy that he would be getting to take home a Vibranium arm (which he could keep upgrading and tampering with back in his own lab in New York).

 

It was as he was working on his arm that the King himself walked into the lab. Tony spotted him almost instantly, but didn’t stop working on the Vibranium limb (partly because he needed to get it finished ASAP, partly because the King was _very_ attractive and he didn’t think he’d be able to control his words around him).

 

“Stark,” came the cool voice of the King, echoing across the lab, and Tony silently sighed, putting down his tools.

 

“Yes, my King?” Calling him “my King” or “Your Majesty” was one of the things he’d been instructed to do on arrival by the head of his guard, the Dora Milaje. Tony didn’t even know his actual name, and he didn’t expect he’d ever be given it.

 

“No need to be so formal,” said the King, taking a step closer to Tony and peering down at the arm he was working on. “You’ve picked up how to use our tech well.”

 

“Combined it seamlessly with my own, right?” Tony replied with a small smirk, knowing that the King would either put up with his slightly snarky, arrogant attitude or leave him alone.

 

The King nodded, carefully picking up the half-finished arm so as not to damage it, and studied it closer. “This is extremely intricate. I’ve only ever seen Shuri make something so… technologically advanced.”

 

“They don’t call me a genius for nothing,” Tony replied, and returned to his work on the arm the moment the King set it back down on the desk. “Is that all you came here for, Your Majesty? To admire the Vibranium arm I’ve been working on?”

 

“Please, enough with the formalities,” the King replied with a dismissive gesture, then held out his hand for Tony to shake. “T’Challa.”

 

Okay, so maybe Tony _was_ getting his actual name, then. “Tony,” he said, taking the King’s hand and shaking it. T’Challa smiled a little at this.

 

“In answer to your question, I didn’t just come here to admire your skills,” T’Challa began. “We have a disturbance at the border. It may be nothing, but the council believes it wise to have all the best fighters on-hand if something were to go wrong.”

 

“ _Best_ fighters, huh?” Tony asked with a smirk, and he was pleased to see the King roll his eyes.

 

“Arrogant Americans,” he muttered, but without venom, and then he turned on his heel and began to rapidly exit the lab. After a moment, Tony set down his tools (after checking the tech in the arm was stable enough for him to leave) and hurried after him.

 

“It’s not serious, is it?”

 

“Just a minor disturbance.”

 

“Then why bother to bring me along?”

 

“The council-”

 

“Don’t tell me that bullshit again,” Tony said, cutting the King off. “You won’t make eye contact with me anytime this ‘minor disturbance’ is mentioned. So tell me what’s actually going on or I’ll go back into the lab and keep working on that arm of mine.”

 

T’Challa reluctantly met his gaze. “They’re trying to break through the border.”

 

“And?”

 

“And it looks like they’re going to succeed.”

 

Tony gave him a confident, somewhat reassuring smile. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now let’s go kill these suckers.”

 

“Capture,” T’Challa amended.

 

“You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to,” Tony shot back, walking faster to pull ahead of the King. T’Challa quickly caught up to him.

 

“It’s not far. Right near the Royal Palace, actually.”

 

“As in, _this_ royal palace? The very one we’re in right now?”

 

“Correct.”

 

Tony muttered a curse under his breath. “And you didn’t think to mention that until _just now_?”

 

“The Dora Milaje are holding them off and keeping an eye on the border. I will be alerted if they-” T’Challa was cut off by a message blaring through on his Kimoyo bead bracelet.

 

_“They’ve broken through the border!”_

 

Tony and T’Challa exchanged a look before the King replied. “Okoye, how far into Wakandan land have they gotten?”

 

_“Only a few meters, but we can’t hold them off for long. They’re gaining ground!”_

 

“Shit?” Tony asked.

 

“Shit,” T’Challa agreed, and then the two were sprinting through the corridors of the Palace, the King leading the way. It took them about a minute to reach the door closest to where the battle was occurring, and T’Challa flung it open, his suit expanding from his necklace as he ran.

 

Tony reached up to tap his arc reactor twice, and his own suit began to cover his body, nano-tech particles building around his limbs and making each step he took heavier and clunkier. Soon his suit fully encased him, and FRIDAY greeted him as he powered up his repulsors to shoot up into the air.

 

Almost instantly his gaze locked in on the battle raging on Wakandan lands; the enemy, seeming to be made of some odd tribe, black and gold panther-like masks covering their faces. Upon a closer look, these masks seemed to be a crude, almost mocking imitation of T’Challa’s suit, but with flecks of gold instead of purple. Tony glanced down at T’Challa, then clicked their comms online.

 

“They don’t seem to be superpowered,” Tony said, and began to fly toward the battle.

 

_“Good. They’ll be easier to capture that way.”_

 

“They’re also wearing black and gold panther masks,” Tony continued. “Some sort of mockery of you?”

 

 _“Shit,”_ came the voice of T’Challa, and there was silence for a moment before he spoke again. _“Eri- Killmonger’s supporters. I was so sure the Dora Milaje and I managed to capture them all years ago…”_

 

“Killmonger?” Tony was confused as he landed in the battle, instantly getting attacked by multiple people in black and gold masks. He flung some off, and fired his repulsors at others (but only at 5% power, since that wouldn’t kill them and would just knock them out).

 

T’Challa came racing into the battle at that point, claws out, a whirlwind of ferocity as he battled back the masked attackers. _“Wakandan history. It doesn’t matter. We just need to take care of these guys.”_

 

“If you say so,” Tony replied, and continued to battle off his attackers. Soon, their foes began to dwindle, the rest having been knocked out and instantly cuffed by the Dora Milaje. Tony began to actually be able to target individuals, instead of having to deal with them rushing at him.

 

Then, a few moments later, it was over. All of their enemies were down, and being cuffed. The breach in the border was being restored and strengthened. Tony turned to T’Challa, his mask flicking up so he could smile at the King.

 

“That wasn’t too bad.”

 

 _“I’m surprised they didn’t put up more of a fight,”_ T’Challa confided, still using the comms since they were separated by a heap of unconscious, slightly battered guys. _“It’s almost like it was… a distraction.”_

 

Tony was about to reply when a final masked foe leaped out from hiding. The newcomer was definitely enhanced, leaping towards T’Challa faster than he should be able to. Tony tried to yell out a warning, but he couldn’t get it out in time. The masked man was slamming something- it looked like a large, metallic shield- into the King’s head.

 

Seconds later, the panther-suited man collapsed. Anger surged in Tony; he didn’t like seeing _anyone_ get hurt, much less someone he’d actually started to like and see as a friend. He raised a hand, aiming his repulsor.

 

“FRIDAY. 50% power.”

 

“Sir, that will-”

 

“Do it!” Tony shouted, and then fired. The masked man was sent flying, a hole burnt through his chest.

 

“T’Challa!” was the next thing out of Tony’s mouth. He powered up his repulsors again to fly over the unconscious masked men to reach the now-limp Black Panther. Okoye was at his side in an instant, glancing over her King with worry.

 

“He’s been knocked out,” Tony said, turning to her, and Okoye winced.

 

“Then he may well be on the Ancestral Plain.”

 

“The what now?” Tony asked, but she wasn’t listening.

 

“It depends how bad the blow was… if he’s close enough to death…”

 

“We need to get him to Shuri,” said another Dora Milaje from behind Tony, scaring the living daylights out of him.

 

“I can carry him,” Tony offered, but Okoye just glared at him as the majority of the Dora Milaje began to lift the limp body of their King.

 

“Guess I’ll help with these masked dudes, then.”

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

It took two days for T’Challa to wake up, and another day atop that to be healed enough to actually do anything. Tony hadn’t been permitted to visit the King when he first woke, though Shuri had dropped by to say that T’Challa had been asking for him.

 

This fact intrigued Tony; yes, the two had been slowly becoming friends over the duration of Tony’s stay, but he didn’t think the King would be _asking_ for Tony after having been knocked out. He wondered if this had something to do with the Ancestral Plain Okoye spoke of.

 

He got to see T’Challa once the King could walk around once again; his first stop was down in the labs, where Tony had just finished the Vibranium arm. He was checking it over for weak points, for anything that could need fixing when he heard the cool, familiar voice of the King echo around the lab.

 

“Tony.”

 

He looked up with a grin. “Ah, T’Challa. Finally decided to stop sleeping and pay me a visit, huh?”

 

T’Challa rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Very funny.”

 

“So, Okoye mentioned something about an ‘Ancestral Plain’ and… well… wherever it is, I can see you’re not there.”

 

T’Challa stiffened. “I was there. I got close enough to death to end up there for a few hours. Thankfully my father was there to… lessen the blow.” The King seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and Tony couldn’t help but assume he was hiding _something_.

 

“Ah. Some odd Wakandan custom again,” Tony said, nodding knowingly, as he replaced his metal-alloy arm with the new Vibranium one. T’Challa just slowly shook his head.

 

“Why Nick Fury sent you to Wakanda to keep the peace is a wonder to me.”

 

Tony just grinned at him. “Cause I’m a genius.” Then he lifted his new Vibranium arm. “And he knew what I’d be able to do if I got anywhere near your tech.”

 

T’Challa sighed. “Like I said, it’s a wonder to me.”

 

“Vibranium ARM!!!”

 

“A true wonder.”

 

“Don’t worry yourself, Your Majesty. I’ll be out of your hair in a couple of weeks anyway. Back on over to America with me.”

 

The small smile that had been playing across T’Challa’s lips disappeared completely. “About that. There’s… something we need to sort out before then. Well, maybe a couple of things.”

 

“Let me guess; it involves those masked dudes we fought by the border?”

 

“Yes,” T’Challa replied after a moment’s hesitation. “One of the problems does.”

 

“Let me guess again; there’s more of them out there?”

 

“Okoye and the Dora Milaje found some Vibranium tech on them. Basic stuff, mostly communicators, but it was enough to trace the location of their base.”

 

“And?” Tony flexed his new Vibranium arm, finding it more responsive than the arm he’d been using previously.

 

“There’s over a dozen of them camped there. Maybe more. And at least five are genetically enhanced.”

 

“Oh shit.” Tony dropped the Vibranium arm to his side.

 

“We’re planning an attack.” At the look on Tony’s face, T’Challa quickly added, “But only to take prisoners. We don’t kill here.”

 

“Yeah, well, you’re a little late in telling me that,” Tony said with a nonchalant shrug, but he secretly worried that he could have ended the peace with Wakanda. He’d been angry, and scared for T’Challa, and he hadn’t thought about it and-

 

Oh god. He’d _killed_ someone. A bad guy, sure, but still. He couldn’t remember _ever_ killing someone in a fight before- not directly, anyway. Obidiah… was Pepper overpowering the arc reactor. On Tony’s orders, sure, but it still wasn’t Tony directly.

 

Ivan… had exploded his own suit. He’d probably been going to die anyway, but he’d been the one to trigger his own death, in the end.

 

Killian… Pepper had killed. Using the Extremis in her, and some of Tony’s tech.

 

There’d been the aliens, but Tony had simply redirected that missile. He hadn’t actually given the order for it to be sent out in the first place… plus, they were aliens. Okay, sure, the aliens were living creatures but…Tony was really more focused on humans.

 

Ultron has been killed by Vision, not that Ultron was ever really… well… _living_. He was an AI, sure, but Tony didn’t really count him as alive.

 

And of course there was Thanos. But Tony didn’t count that as a kill, since he knew such a snap could be reversed (which made him insanely glad that the stones no longer existed, and that he and the team decided to destroy the time machine they’d built).

 

But this guy, the one who attacked T’Challa? That was all on _him_. He’d killed him, and over practically nothing. So, okay, the King could have been killed. But he wasn’t.

 

“A kill in defence of the King of Wakanda will not make my country hate you,” T’Challa said, as if he could read minds and was following Tony’s train of thought. “It is frowned upon, but my people will know why you did so.”

 

“It wasn’t like I _stopped_ him from hurting you,” Tony pointed out, still not sure if what he’d done really was okay. “He’d already knocked you out. For all I knew you were already dead.”

 

“But my people do not need to know that,” T’Challa replied, then saw the look on Tony’s face. “Do not forget that I was ready to kill whoever had murdered my father. The only reason I didn’t was because I had time to think. You did not.”

 

Tony just took a half step back, shaking his head slowly. “It was still wrong.”

 

“We all make mistakes,” T’Challa insisted, taking a step closer to Tony (in a way that seemed to imply that he wouldn’t let Tony just walk away from this). “My father did. I did.”

 

Tony waved him off. “You didn’t kill someone.”

 

“Not directly, no. But Zuri’s death was on my head. I was arrogant and believed I could defeat Killmonger in single combat. Zuri gave his life for mine, and I still nearly failed to save Wakanda.”

 

Tony let out a small sigh. “Okay, fine. I’m not going to keep arguing with you- frankly because I quite like having conversations with you and _not_ because you’re right.”

 

T’Challa smiled, briefly, before fighting it back. “Of course. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

 

“So, this attack you’re planning?” Tony asked, bringing them back to the subject at hand.

 

“Ah, yes. That.” T’Challa lifted his right arm to display the Kimoyo bead bracelet, which displayed a holographic version of what Tony assumed was the base of these “Killmonger supporters”.

 

“Those bracelet things are _very_ handy,” Tony said, and T’Challa just made a small noise of agreement.

 

“This is their base,” he said, tapping the hologram once. It slowly began to turn, displaying every angle of the place. “It’s an old hospital, for the outer-lying settlements of Wakanda. We abandoned it after our people were able to move closer inwards, and it was no longer needed. There are a few weak points in the building.”

 

T’Challa tapped a few places on the old hospital; one of the walls, the front door, back door, several windows and the roof. “These are those weak points.”

 

“So what way are we getting in? The front door is obviously out of the question,” Tony asked, slowly catching on. T’Challa tapped the roof a second time.

 

“This is how.”

 

“How many are coming with us?”

 

“The whole of the Dora Milaje. Bucky. Shuri, too. Peter, if you will allow it. And of course the two of us.”

 

“The kid can come,” Tony replied. “So long as he stays out of the way of the real danger.”

 

T’Challa smiled. “Then it’s settled.”

 

“And the ‘other problem’ you mentioned?”

 

“We will worry about it after we deal with this.”

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

The plan had been perfected a few days later, which happened to be when Tony finished the last little modifications and touches to his Vibranium arm- well, finished for now, at least. They held a small meeting before the mission, to make sure everyone knew their role.

 

Tony was glad he and Bucky had sorted their differences out a few months back, since T’Challa and the Dora Milaje thought it best to have them team up for the mission. T’Challa would also be with them, and Peter was going with Shuri and Okoye. The rest of the Dora Milaje was split into their own groups, but Tony didn’t really bother to listen.

 

Okoye was pretty much the only member of the King’s guard who he’d bothered to remember the name of. She’d checked in on him in the lab a couple of times, and had been one of the ones to welcome him to Wakanda.

 

The plan that had been concocted was how Tony found himself fully suited up outside the hospital, creeping as well as he could in the metallic-alloy that was his armour, slowly getting closer to the building that was their target. T’Challa had no problem with the sneaking, since he had the ‘sneakers’ Shuri had made him ages ago (but more modified. And without a proper name). Bucky was managing pretty well, too- then again, he used to be an assassin.

 

“Remind me why I’m on the team that has to use stealth again?” Tony asked quietly, via their comms.

 

 _“All of us are using stealth for this mission,”_ came T’Challa’s voice through the comms.

 

 _“You letting a hundred-year-old man be better at the superhero thing than you?”_ came the taunting voice of Bucky.

 

“Oh it is _on_ ,” Tony replied, redoubling his efforts to sneak towards the abandoned hospital building. After this, they continued forwards in silence for a few minutes, before they reached the hospital wall. There, T’Challa unsheathed his suit’s claws and used them to grip to the wall, climbing up it in a very cat-like fashion (though he did nearly slip a couple of times, Tony noted with a small frown).

 

“Show off,” Tony muttered, and if Bucky wasn’t wearing a mask Tony was sure he would have been hiding a smile. T’Challa leaned over the side of the building and beckoned to Tony and Bucky; the signal for them to get onto the roof.

 

“Ready?” Tony asked Bucky quietly, and the former assassin nodded, climbing onto Tony’s back; this was part of the plan, too. Tony could fly, and Bucky could not, so the Winter Soldier/White Wolf would need a lift. Tony then carefully powered up his thrusters with just enough power to get them both to the roof.

 

Then he landed carefully, knowing the roof was unstable, and let Bucky climb off his back with a small wince. He looked over at the former assassin.

 

“You’re heavier than you look.”

 

 _“Shut up, Stark,”_ was Bucky’s reply, but Tony could hear the smile in his voice.

 

 _“Quiet, you two. Here’s our way in.”_ T’Challa was gesturing to a particularly weak spot in the roof, where the plaster and tiling had fallen away, and weak, broken support beams were exposed.

 

“The Dora Milaje are standing by?”

 

_“Yes. They will come to our aid the moment we ask. Peter, Shuri and Okoye will hang back to catch any stragglers who may slip through our grasp.”_

 

“Alright then, let’s do this thing.” Tony let Bucky and T’Challa drop through the hole first, and gave them half a minute to get themselves situated in the building. Then he dropped himself through, wincing at the clunk of his armour as he landed.

 

He didn’t move, knowing that the masked men would be on him in an instant whether he moved or not, and repeated the plan to himself in his head in order to stay calm. _You’re the distraction. Bucky and T’Challa will alert the Dora Milaje to carefully move in now. You only have to hold them off until they come to your aid._

 

For a long moment, he stood there, alone in the dark, lit only by the arc reactor and the glow of his suit’s eyes. Then a single, gold and black masked face peeled out from the darkness. Tony locked gazes with it, and for a few seconds they both froze, staring across at each other.

 

In an instant, more masked men were flooding into the area; there was more than T’Challa had anticipated when they’d all planned, but from what Tony could see he’d been right about the number of genetically enhanced out of the group. One of these such men was racing towards him at an unnerving speed, and Tony knocked him aside with a hand.

 

A second soon followed, throwing a punch that snapped Tony’s head to the side and very nearly dented his helmet. He raised a repulsor and blasted the man away with enough force to knock him out. _Come on, T️’Challa._

 

A non-enhanced was the next to attack him, and Tony easily batted him aside. At the same time, he felt something slam into the back of his head. He turned, and his eyes widened as he spotted a masked man holding a metallic shield.

 

“You,” he hissed, eyes narrowing behind his helmet. This was the man who’d tried to kill T’Challa; Tony could even see the burnt, ragged clothing he still wore. How in hell did he survive?

 

“Yes, me,” the masked man replied with a tone full of malice, but he sounded young, and Tony almost faltered before he upped the power of his repulsors to 100% and blasted the man square in the face. He didn’t get back up, and Tony hoped that was enough to keep him down for good.

 

Bucky and four Dora Milaje burst into the area, instantly engaging in the battle. The masked men looked shocked by this, maybe even a little surprised, and more Dora Milaje flooded in, followed lastly by T’Challa.

 

Tony didn’t fail to notice that T’Challa was hanging back at the fringes of the battle, scratching at the stragglers that came his way but not truly engaging with the enemy. This was odd, since Tony had seen him leap right into the border fight days back without hesitation, a whirlwind of power and pure ferocity. To see him hang back made Tony more worried than he liked to let on, but he forced himself to focus on the fight at hand.

 

The normal, non-enhanced masked men were easy to take down, and the enhanced didn’t take much longer. Soon, the Dora Milaje had cuffed over a dozen masked men, and were beginning to transport them back to the fancy plane they’d taken to reach this outlying town in the first place.

 

Tony was about to walk over to T’Challa, to ask him what had happened during the fight, why he hadn’t joined in, when the masked man he’d blasted in the face before let out a groan. Tony quickly beckoned one of the Dora Milaje over.

 

“This one’s still alive. He’s the same guy who tried to kill your King.”

 

 _“Advanced healing?”_ T’Challa asked via comms, sounding surprised, and Tony glanced back to spot the King making his way over.

 

“More like Deadpool levels of healing,” Tony replied, voice grim. “I shot him in the face with my repulsors at full power and he’s still alive and kicking.”

 

 _“We can put him in the high-security prison,”_ came the voice of Okoye through the comms, and Tony spotted her leading Peter and Shuri into the abandoned hospital now that all of the masked men had been knocked out (and some accidentally killed). _“The one built specifically for… people like him.”_

 

T’Challa nodded, and let his mask fall back from his face and into the necklace. “He can live out his days there.”

 

Tony glanced between them. “Well, let’s get him there before he wakes up.️”

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

Tony turned to T’Challa, who was staring at the mutant in the cell before them. The burnt, ragged clothes he wore and the rapidly healing burns on his face were the only evidence he’d ever even been injured.

 

“You hung back.” It wasn’t a question; Tony was stating a fact, and the King turned to him, looking a little surprised.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“During the fight. You hung back. Why?”

 

“I no longer have the strength of the panther,” T’Challa said slowly, as if it pained him to say it aloud.

 

“What, so someone else is the Black Panther now?”

 

T’Challa slowly shook his head. “No. When I… when _he-_ ” the King gestured to the man in the cell, “-knocked me out and I ended up on the ancestral plain, I was stripped of my powers. I was told… that until I could find a partner, my powers would be gone. For good.”

 

“But you don’t want a partner?” Tony was confused, especially as to why T’Challa would be forced to date with such extreme measures.

 

“I _do_ ,” T’Challa said, sounding a little exasperated himself. “But… I don’t think they want to date me.”

 

“Well, maybe if you tell me who it is I could help?” Tony offered. “I’m pretty sure Bucky wants to fuck you.”

 

T’Challa let out a small laugh. “Yeah, no. He was too smitten with Steve to ever love another.” Then T’Challa grew serious. “But I don’t think you can help me with this, Tony.”

 

“I’m quite the matchmaker,” Tony insisted, but T’Challa just shook his head.

 

“It’s okay. I will have to learn to rule without my powers. Perhaps Shuri will become the Black Panther instead.”

 

Tony couldn’t just stand there and let T’Challa look so miserable, but he couldn’t do anything to really help, either. “What if I date you? Just while I stay here? Would that work?”

 

“Perhaps.” Then T’Challa shook his head. “But I could not ask that of you.”

 

Tony opened his mouth to reply, but the King was already walking away. Tony swallowed down the urge to yell after him, to try and convince him to find a way around this. Instead, he decided to make it his mission to find out who the King liked and set the two up.

 

It hurt him a little, to know that T’Challa liked someone, but Tony wanted him to be happy. He would get T’Challa with his crush somehow, no matter what it took.

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

The first person Tony went to was Shuri. She was the King’s sister, and she could very well know who T’Challa liked. He found her down in her lab, with Peter, showing him more of her gadgets and tech. Tony smiled as he watched the two friends for a moment before clearing his throat.

 

“Ahem.”

 

The two teens jumped as if caught mid-crime. Then Peter smiled and waved. “Hi, Mr Stark!”

 

Tony waved back, smiling easily at the kid. “Hi, Pete. And hi to you too, Shuri.”

 

“White boy,” Shuri muttered, just loud enough for Tony to hear. “What do you want?”

 

“To talk to you,” Tony replied honestly. “About T’Challa.”

 

“You want me to set you two up, don’t you?”

 

“What? No! I mean yeah, he’s attractive, but I didn’t- I- I don’t-”

 

“I was just _kidding_ ,” Shuri said with a roll of her eyes. “You can stop tripping over yourself about it.”

 

Tony caught himself, and felt his face grow hot. “He’s lost his Black Panther powers.”

 

“This wouldn’t be the first time,” Shuri replied, with a raise of her eyebrows. “How did it happen this time?”

 

“Something about the Ancestral Plain? Anyway, he said he can’t get it back until he gets a partner, apparently. I want… to help him end up with the person that he likes. You got any clue who that is?”

 

Shuri burst out laughing, and Peter joined in after a second.

 

“What?” Tony demanded, and the two teens just laughed harder.

 

“It’s you, Stark,” Shuri managed to gasp out before she collapsed to the floor, laughing. Peter soon followed suit, and Tony rolled his eyes as he left the two teens rolling around on the floor clutching at their stomachs as they laughed. If they wouldn’t tell him, he guessed he’d try Okoye.

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

Okoye, thankfully, wasn’t busy when Tony approached her. In fact, she offered him a smile when she spotted him, and he waved to her.

 

“Okoye,” he greeted, dipping his head respectfully (as he had learned in that week before he’d come to Wakanda). “I wish to ask you something.”

 

“Ask away,” she replied, glancing back out at the kingdom through the doorway she was guarding.

 

“T’Challa has lost his Black Panther powers.”

 

“As I am aware,” Okoye said with a small incline of her head.

 

“And he refuses to tell me who the person he likes is. I only wish to help him regain his powers…”

 

Okoye let out a small snort of amusement. “He won’t tell you, Tony, because it is you. You should hear him talking about you as if you are the only man in the world.”

 

Tony just stared at her for a long moment. “So Shuri _wasn’t_ lying.”

 

“Why would she?” Okoye questioned, then she seemed to gauge Tony’s expression. “You like him too.”

 

Tony blinked. “I- uh- I-”

 

Okoye just gave him a sympathetic glance. “Go talk to him.”

 

Tony just nodded, a little taken aback. “Okay. Okay.”

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

Tony took a deep breath as he knocked on the door of T’Challa’s chambers. He half didn’t expect the King to even answer, but the door was opened to him almost immediately. T’Challa looked tense as he met Tony’s gaze, and ushered the genius into the room.

 

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” the King said, sounding a little nervous, and Tony could guess why.

 

“I was just talking to Shuri and Okoye,” Tony said, averting his gaze from T’Challa for a moment. “They both said that… you have a crush on me.”

 

The King froze for a second, then exhaled. “They speak the truth.”

 

“But… why?” Tony met T’Challa’s gaze again. “Why me? You’re… you, and I’m me…”

 

T’Challa looked crushed. “I get it. You don’t feel the same, and that is fine.”

 

“T’Challa-”

 

“No. You do not need to apologise or try to make me feel better. I was foolish to let myself believe… that you could ever feel the same.”

 

Tony opened his mouth to try and argue again, but T’Challa’s Kimoyo bead bracelet blared the odd-ringtone that meant one of the Dora Milaje was trying to contact him. Tony watched as he answered.

 

_“He’s escaped.”_

 

“Who?”

 

_“The mutant. The one with the advanced healing factor.”_

 

Tony felt himself grow pale. “Oh _shit_.”

 

 _“Language, please, Mr Stark,”_ the Dora Milaje member chided. _“We need all hands on deck to capture him again. I’m afraid we might have to use those mutant collars.”_

 

“Get them ready,” T’Challa replied, voice grim. “Tony and I are on our way.”

 

The call clicked off, and Tony turned to T’Challa, eyes wide. “You can’t fight!”

 

“I can’t stand by and watch my people fight on my behalf,” T’Challa countered.

 

“You’ll be killed!” Tony was almost hysterical at this point. “You _can’t_.”

 

T’Challa drew himself up taller, staring down at Tony, and suddenly the genius felt very small. “I am the King. I can do whatever I want.”

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

 _“On your right!”_ Okoye’s voice echoed through Tony’s comms, and he whirled to punch the mutant away from him.

 

“Stay on the edges of the battle, kid,” Tony warned Peter via comms, and he swore he could hear the grin in the spider-kid’s voice as he replied.

 

_“I know what I’m doing, Mr Stark.”_

 

 _“Yeah, I’ve got his back,”_ Shuri added through her comms. Tony rolled his eyes.

 

“If you say so. How’s that collar coming along?”

 

 _“The White Wolf has it,”_ Okoye said in answer. _“He’s having difficulty getting close to the mutant, though.”_

 

“I can take it,” Tony said. “He’s been targeting me this whole battle. I think he remembers that I blasted him in the face.”

 

 _“Bringing it over, Stark,”_ Bucky said, and Tony spotted him moving across the battlefield. Tony smiled behind his helmet, and shot forwards to grab the collar from Bucky.

 

 _“Once the collar is around his neck his mutant powers will be dampened,”_ T’Challa put in.

 

“You better hang back though,” Tony replied. “He won’t be defenceless.”

 

 _“I am not defenceless either, Stark,”_ T’Challa replied, sounding irritated.

 

Tony just sighed, and then turned as the mutant came charging at him again. This time, he blocked the mutant by holding the collar up so that it snapped shut around his neck. The mutant dropped to the ground, snarling like an animal as he clawed at the collar to no avail.

 

Tony smirked. “Time’s up.”

 

Before he could raise a repulsor, though, T’Challa was charging in, bowling the mutant over and tearing at him with his suit’s claws. He didn’t have his powers, but rage seemed to be fuelling him.

 

“T’Challa! Get out of there!” Tony yelled, not willing to try and take a shot at the mutant for fear of hitting T’Challa.

 

 _“I’ve waited too long for this,”_ the King hissed. _“He threatened you and so he threatened us all, especially me.”_

 

 _“My King! Get out of there!”_ Okoye yelled through the comms, backing up Tony’s earlier statement. T’Challa didn’t show any sign he’d heard, still tearing at the mutant with such ferocity that Tony actually felt a little afraid of him.

 

Then, suddenly, the King stopped. He glanced down at his own stomach, and Tony was close enough to see that a knife was buried up to its hilt in his flesh. Blood was blossoming on T’Challa’s suit, only slightly visible on the black of his suit. _How did he stab through a solid Vibranium suit?_

 

_“My King!”_

 

Tony powered up his repulsors, and aimed one at the villain, who was laughing, laughing, laughing. The mutant didn’t even see the blast coming, and his head was torn clean apart, blood and flesh splattering in every direction. Then Tony quickly dropped down to T’Challa’s side.

 

“T’Challa! Stay with me. You’ll be okay. Shuri and the Wakandan doctors can fix you, okay?”

 

The only response Tony got was T’Challa’s eyes slowly falling shut.

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

Despite Shuri, and Wakanda’s doctors, being able to heal the stab wound fairly quickly (by fairly quickly, Tony meant in under two hours), T’Challa took a full week to wake up this time. The knife he had been stabbed with was made of solid Vibranium, explaining why it had been able to slice through his armour. Closer inspection of the suit showed it had taken a fair amount of force to get it through, which meant the mutant had probably been wrestling to actually stab T’Challa the whole time the King had been tearing at him with his claws.

 

Tony stayed by the King’s side the whole time he was unconscious; because he was down in Shuri’s lab (which was the best place for healing anyway) Tony was able to tamper with his arm a little more. He was careful not to stray too far from T’Challa, though, since he knew the King could wake up at any moment.

 

When T’Challa finally stirred, Tony was actually sitting by his side, screwing a final panel of his arm back into place when the King’s eyes blinked open. Despite his instincts, Tony forced himself to finish screwing the metal panel back into place; it really wouldn’t be good for him to leap to his feet and have it crash to the ground.

 

“T’Challa?” Tony asked softly, so as not to startle the man.

 

“Tony?” T’Challa turned, eyes focusing on the genius seated beside him. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Shuri’s got a nice lab,” Tony replied with a small shrug. “And I couldn’t let my future boyfriend wake up by himself, now could I?”

 

“Future boyfriend?” T’Challa’s eyes narrowed slightly in confusion.

 

“Yeah, my future boyfriend,” Tony repeated. “If someone as beautiful as you are happy to date someone as ordinary as me.”

 

T’Challa’s eyes seemed to widen a little. “You actually want to date me?”

 

“You’re the King of Wakanda! Who the hell _doesn’t_ want to date you?”

 

T’Challa smiled, and sat up, then got out of the hospital type bed he’d been laying in. “Well then I guess my answer is yes.”

 

Tony smiled in return, taking a small step closer to T’Challa. “Well then hi, future boyfriend.”

 

“Just _boyfriend_ ,” T’Challa said, then closed the distance between the two of them.

 

_*_*_*_*_

 

Later, Tony got a call from Nick Fury.

 

_“Heard you’re extending your stay in Wakanda by a couple of weeks, Mr Stark.”_

 

“Yeah well, I found some reasons to stay. Like the Vibranium. The tech is incredible.”

 

_“Cut the shit. I know you found an interesting way to keep the peace.”_

 

Tony blushed a little. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

_“Have fun on your dates, Stark.”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> In my google docs this fic was titled “ABOUT TIME YOU WROTE SOMETHING FOR THIS PAIRING YOU DUMB FUCKER”
> 
> Anyway here’s the result of about four or five days of writing... now I’d better get back to work on my butterflies fic oOPS 
> 
> Thanks for the read, and please let me know what you thought!


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